In Memory of Rocky – Until We Meet Again on Rainbow Bridge

By JoAnn, Marion, and Tim Algier

This past week, we lost a dear family member, Rocky, who had just outlived his “human pet-dad”, Tom, by just a few months.  It certainly would have been interesting to know what they thought and what experiences they had had in common!!

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…

Author unknown…

Rocky brought much joy and love to all, especially to his pet-parents Tom and JoAnn and his doggie extended family Angel, Apachi, Angelina and Princess… a gift they have enjoyed and camaraderie they have cherished forever~

Related…

‘Until One Has Loved an Animal, Part of Their Soul Remains Unawakened’,  A Feeling All Those Who Have Known Remember Forever!!

Rosie

Rainbow Bridge

A Pet’s Plea

Celebrating Animals in the Afterlife

Meowsa! Do our pets go to Heaven?

A Dog’s Purpose – Out of the Mouth of Babes

China, Korea, South East Asia: Stop Cooking Dogs, Any Animals, Alive

Smartest Dog In the World, Chaser – 60 Minutes With Anderson Cooper

Quebec bill changes animals from "property" to sentient beings and includes jail time for cruelty

Panda Accused of Faking Pregnancy To Get Better Food, Air Conditioning

Expectant pandas are moved to air-conditioned rooms and showered with more buns, fruit and bamboo.

By Dominique Mosbergen – News Editor, The Huffington Post – Posted: 07/30/2015 12:57 AM EDT | Edited: 07/31/2015 02:07 PM EDT

Pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, names together mean "reunion", eat bamboo at a panda base in Ya’an, southwest China’s Sichuan province, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. A few weeks after this photo was taken, the duo were moved to Taiwan. (Associated Press)

Keepers at the Taipei Zoo were excited. Resident giant panda Yuan Yuan was exhibiting signs of pregnancy — an all-too-elusive event among captive pandas.

There were tell-tale symptoms, like a loss of appetite and a thickening of the uterus. Yuan Yuan’s fecal progesterone concentration was also on the rise.

Yet despite these promising signs, the panda’s pregnancy was a false alarm.

According to China’s Southern Metropolis Daily, ultrasound scans determined that Yuan Yuan, who was artificially inseminated earlier this year, was not pregnant. Now the panda is being accused of faking the pregnancy as a way of getting her caretakers to shower her with better food and care.

Pregnant pandas are typically treated like queens. As China Daily notes, the expectant bears are moved into “single rooms with air conditioning” and given “round-the-clock care.” They receive more buns, fruit and bamboo as well.

Panda experts have speculated that Yuan Yuan, who gave birth to a cub in 2013, may have been feigning pregnancy to reap these added benefits.

Taiwan’s panda cub Yuan Zai, right, and her mother Yuan Yuan enjoy Yuan Zai’s first birthday cake at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, July 6, 2014. (Associated Press)

Last year, another female panda named Ai Hin was accused of trying to pull the same trick. The panda, who lives at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, exhibited pregnancy symptoms for two months before experts determined that she didn’t actually have a cub in the oven.

“After showing prenatal signs, the [panda] ‘mothers-to-be’ are [pampered],” Wu Kongju, an expert at the Chengdu Research Base, told CNN last year. “So some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life.”

Other panda experts disagree with these accusations.

Zhang Heming, director of the China Research and Conservation Center for the Giant Panda, told the Guardian last year that pseudo-pregnancies are actually fairly common in the panda world. He attributed the pandas’ behavior to "more of a hormonal issue than a deliberate ruse."

"This phenomenon occurs in 10 to 20 percent of pandas," he said. "After the mother panda is inseminated, if her health isn’t so good, the pregnancy will terminate, but she’ll still behave as if she’s pregnant."

According to a 2010 LiveScience report, scientists "don’t know why pseudo-pregnancies happen, or if they have evolved for an evolutionary purpose."

"In a sense there’s no answer, but there is speculation that perhaps pandas’ bodies just rehearse pregnancy all the time," Lisa Stevens, curator of primates and pandas at Smithsonian’s National Zoo, told the news outlet.

Also on HuffPost:

Alamy AK58HY Giant Panda Cub  Kin Cheung/AP One of the one month old Panda triples receives a body check at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong province Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014. China announced the birth of extremely rare panda triplets in a further success for the country’s artificial breeding program. The three cubs were born July 29 in the southern city of Guangzhou. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Panda cub Bao Bao hangs from a tree in her habitat at the National Zoo in Washington, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014. Today marks her first birthday and the zoo is marking the event with a traditional ‘Zhuazhou’ ceremony, a Chinese birthday tradition symbolizing long life to mark the event. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Getty Images

YA’AN, CHINA – JUNE 29: A giant panda climbs onto a platform at the panda research base on June 29, 2015 in Ya’an, China. China’s Sichuan province is home to the majority of the the world’s nearly 1,900 endangered giant pandas. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

leungchopan panda eating bamboo

  Alamy AJC9T9  -  ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

A woman poses for photographers with the part of the 1,600 paper pandas, created by French artist Paulo Grangeon, in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building during the month-long "1600 Pandas World Tour" in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin) ABA PREFECTURE, CHINA – JULY 05: (CHINA OUT) Aerial view of people, wearing panda costumes with mahjong tiles, playing mahjong during a mahjong competition at a theme park in Jiuzhai Village on July 5, 2015 in Aba Perfecture, Sichuan Province of China. Over one hundred people wearing panda costumes with mahjong tiles played on a one hundred-square-meter mahjong table during a mahjong competition. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)  

Getty Images

CHENGDU, CHINA – JUNE 30: Giants pandas pause from eating bamboo in an enclosure at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding on June 30, 2015 in Chengdu, China. Twin female cubs were born by artificial insemination to seven-year-old Kelin at the center on June 22. China’s Sichuan province is home to the majority of the the world’s nearly 1,900 endangered giant pandas. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’

Smartest Dog In the World, Chaser – 60 Minutes With Anderson Cooper

Quebec bill changes animals from "property" to sentient beings and includes jail time for cruelty

Spanish town gives pets equal rights as citizens

China, Korea, South East Asia: Stop Cooking Dogs, Any Animals, Alive 

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!–06.02.15

Dachshund Family Photo | Picture Furrfect

Video: Dachshund Family Photo | Picture Furrfect

Bob’s Full House

Photo:  Cute Overload -  Full House

Keep Your Pets Safe on the 4th of July

Family and friends of G.R. Gordon-Ross watch his private fireworks show at the Youth Sports Complex in Lawrence, Kan., Friday, June 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

Mercury News – Originally posted on July 02, 2013: The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. Hot dogs, potato salad and, of course, fireworks.

But Independence Day is not such a joyful time for our animal friends. The noises and flashes of light are anything but enjoyable for them. Some become emotionally traumatized, cowering in corners, while others may bolt out of fear. Even pets that normally aren’t phased can have bad reactions to all of the bangs and pops.

The East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has kindly provided tips to help keep our animals calm and safe during the next few days:

– Keeping your dogs and cats indoors is one of the simplest things you can do to keep them safe. Even if your pet usually does well outdoors, both cats and dogs might run in a panic from fireworks or people. More pets go missing during the July Fourth holiday than at any other time of the year.

– If possible, stay at home with your pet. That way, you will be able to make adjustments to routines and comfort a distraught animal. If your dog appears fearful, allow him to go into his kennel or somewhere he feels safe. If your cat is skittish, place her in a darkened, cozy room with some of her favorite things. Most important, comfort them and reassure them that all is OK.

– Make sure your pets are wearing identification. One in three pets will go missing in their lifetime. If they don’t have identification, 90 percent don’t return home.

In addition to a collar with tags, consider microchipping your pet. Many frightened pets can slip their collars, leaving them with no path home. Contact the SPCA or other animal groups to see if they offer the service. Also make sure that contact information with the chipping company and on collar tags is up-to-date.

– Keep an emergency file. If your pet does go missing, it is a good idea to have a folder with a list of local shelters, as well as a current photo of your pet showing any unique markings for identification. Make sure the entire family knows where this folder is kept and that it is easily accessible.

– If your pet has a history of problems, talk to your veterinarian about medications. East Bay SPCA Chief Veterinarian Michael Sozanski says pets often find the loud, unpredictable noise and bright light displays frightening and should not be subjected to fireworks shows. "In case of severe phobia," Sozanski says, "nothing may work to ease your pet’s fear. If there is a chance your pet may exhibit this level of fear, speak to your veterinarian about possible medications." Medications can include anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives.

– Consider your pet when party planning. If you have friends over to celebrate, be especially mindful of doors and windows. Guests may be unaware that your dog or cat might escape even if a door is left open for a short amount of time. Try securing your cat in a quiet room or keeping your dog in the kennel or with you on a leash as guests are coming and going.

– If you are going to an outdoor event and bringing your pet, make sure there is plenty or water and shade.

Things to watch for:

–In dogs, warning signs of anxiety can be excessive panting, drooling, trembling and shaking, pacing, aggression, panicking and escape behavior. Watch for inappropriate body movements, such as jumping erratically over or on furniture, that could lead to injuries.

–Symptoms in cats may include panting, drooling, trembling, hiding, freezing, aggression, panicking and escape behavior. They also may behave erratically, jumping and climbing. They may hurt themselves or others.

Joan Morris’ column runs five days a week in print and online. Contact her at jmorris@bayareanewsgroup.com.

*Even events at home and indoors can be traumatic for some dogs/pets.  Be watchful for signs.  Sometimes putting pets who are not social in a separate room by themselves or with another pet with the TV or music on and some of their toys and snacks can be helpful.

Related:

Fourth of July food safety tips

4th of July Pet Parades Around the Country

JOMP Salutes Doggie Dads Both Two and Four Legged

Very few dogs have the experience of being parents these days and especially seeing their litters through the process of weaning and then actually being able to remain part of a pack with at least part of their family.

Apachi is our Doggie Dad.  He is a Chiweenie and here he is is watching his brood being born with the help of their human Dad.  Angel, the mom, is a fawn faced Chihhuahua.

It was an amazing experience for us be part of and to observe the dog family go through this process was heartwarming, educational and touching on many levels.  Mom, Angel, would not let Apachi near the pups, which confused him, because he was a great dad and only wanted to watch over them.  (But we know that is not the case with many males dogs!  They often kill their offspring.)  Angel nursed the 4-puppies until they were 8-weeks-old and then partially for another 2-weeks as we weaned them off.  She was also a great mom, but from the day the pups were weaned, Dad took over playing with them and watching over them.  Angel had done her part!

Here Apachi is playing with and watching his pups at 31-days-old.  Once they were able to get out of the basket he would play with them whenever possible. But in the basket, they were off limits.

The two boys went to great homes and we still hear from their new families.  One of the girls also went to good home, but came back because they could not keep her (long story), so we ended up with a Doggie family of 4… who are now 7, 5.5 and 2-grown-pups at 4-years-old.  Although a lot of work, it is an experience that few people as well as few dogs get to be part of.  It is worth every moment of extra work or minor inconvenience!!

Here is a pile up of Apachi, the Pups: Angelina, Magnum, Princess and Goji, with their human Dad

Here they are now… the family of 4:

Doggie Dad Apachi, Pup Princess, Pup Angelina and Mom Angel, huddling with Daddy Tim before a big game…

UCLA Shutterbug – Wyoming Outing

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Tribeca Film Festival

UCLA Schutterbug  -  Kisses for Schatze

Reddit/orangefever  -  Just Wrestling

UCLA Shutterbug -  Having a PowWow

UCLA Shutterbug  -  Whole Family is Asleep… Pups 7-Weeks Old

Hope You All Had A Great Father’s Day!!

Posted by Ask Marion, photos by the UCLA Shutterbug and Just One More Pet

Smartest Dog In the World, Chaser – 60 Minutes With Anderson Cooper

By Marion Algier – Just One More Pet (JOMP)  –  Cross-Posted at AskMarion

Anderson Cooper met Chaser, a dog who can identify over a thousand toys, and because of whom, scientists are now studying the brain of man’s best friend.  Chaser is also the subject of a book:  Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words.

Man and dog have lived together for 15,000 years and there are now more than 80 million dogs in the United States, more dogs than children, yet we know very little about man’s best friend.

Did you know that when your dog(s) stare at you, they are hugging you with their eyes?!?

Video: 60 Minutes October 5, 2014 – Anderson Cooper- Chaser – Smart Dog Segment

Video: The Dog Who Knows 1,000 Words | CUTE ANIMALS (Episode 5)

And, there’s even more to smart dogs than what ’60 Minutes’ and Chaser showed you says Arlene Weintraub, author of – Heal: The Vital Role of Dogs in the Search for Cancer Cures.

The hit CBS CBS -0.48% newsmagazine 60 Minutes just re-ran what was no doubt one of its most popular segments of recent years, “The Smartest Dog in the World,” featuring Chaser, the border collie who learned more than 1,000 words and names. As shown in the segment, Chaser accomplished that incredible feat because her owner, retired psychology professor John Pilley, spent five hours a day, five days a week training the white-and-black spotted pooch to associate certain words with objects such as toys.

As a result, Chaser ended up with a vocabulary three times greater than that of the average toddler. It’s impressive, to be sure, especially since very little was known about the power of the canine brain until quite recently, as correspondent Anderson Cooper pointed out at the top of the piece.

Over the last two decades, however, the scientific community has started to delve more deeply into canine intelligence, unlocking the clues to what’s happening in their brains that makes dogs so seemingly human. Here are some of the latest insights:

Dogs aren’t just learning tricks when you train them—they’re actually getting smarter.

Not everyone can spare the time that Pilley took to train his dog to recognize so many words, but science has proven that, in fact, dogs that stay mentally engaged do get smarter.

For example, researchers at the University of Milan recently took a group of 110 dogs, half of whom had little or no training in obedience or any other skill, and the other half who had extremely sophisticated levels of schooling, in agility, search-and-rescue, and the like. All of the dogs were then challenged to find food that had been hidden—but only after they were shown how the treats would be hidden and what they would have to do to uncover them.

As dog psychology expert and author Stanley Coren reported on the Psychology Today blog, it was clear that the dogs in the trial who had spent a lot of time training to do challenging tasks had gained a leg up on the intelligence scale: Only 30% of the untrained dogs found the hidden food, while 61% of the trained dogs successfully completed the task—even though their previous training didn’t prepare them for this particular test.

The scientists concluded that the trained dogs had acquired a “’learning to learn’ ability” that is otherwise absent in the average dog.

Studies show that dogs trained in complex tasks like agility gain intelligence (Credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

That insight jives with what one of the scientists featured in the 60 Minutes piece, Brian Hare, pointed out. “What’s special is that [Pilley] spent so much time playing these games to help her learn words, but are there lots of Chasers out there?” said Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University during the piece. “Absolutely.”

In other words, any mutt can probably be as good as Chaser—if his or her owner is willing to put in the hours.

Dogs can smell cancer and other things we can’t because of how their brains are structured.

It’s long been known that dogs’ noses are extremely sensitive—a virtue that has made them indispensable as search-and-rescue aides for centuries. But only recently have scientists begun to unlock the mysteries behind how dogs can pick up and follow scents that no one else can.

What they’ve learned is that dogs have 200 million olfactory receptors (ORs), or proteins on the neurons inside their snouts that send signals to their brains, allowing them to process smells. We human have only five million ORs. Dogs’ nostrils are structured so intricately that they can detect odors at such miniscule levels as parts per trillion, and many experts believe the proportion of the dog’s brain that’s dedicated to analyzing those scents is 40 times larger than that of humans. That makes the dog’s ability to recognize particular odors one million times better than that of people.

Dogs’ noses are now being put to use beyond the realm of search-and-rescue. In the medical world, service dogs are being trained to help people with diabetes recognize when their blood sugar is dropping to dangerous levels. And much attention has been paid recently to reports that dogs can sniff cancer.

The notion that dogs might be able to detect cancer first emerged about 25 years ago, when the British medical journal The Lancet published a five-paragraph letter in which two doctors in London described the case of a forty-four-year-old woman, who came into their clinic with a lesion on her left thigh. She told them her Doberman–border collie mix was constantly sniffing a mole on her leg, and one day when she was wearing shorts, her dog tried to bite the mole off entirely. Turned out that mole was a malignant melanoma—and the dog saved his owner’s life, because the tumor was so small at that point the cancer could be cured.

Since then, dog-loving scientists all over the world have trained and then tested hundreds of dogs to prove they can smell cancer. The results are sometimes astounding: In a 2012 trial, sniffer dogs were able to identify the scent of lung cancer about 90% of the time, even when the scientists tried to confuse them with samples from patients with non-cancerous conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). Dogs have also been successfully trained to detect ovarian, breast, bladder, and colorectal cancer. Multiple efforts are now underway to translate the dog’s nose into automated breathalyzer-like devices that may be able to detect cancer early.

Dogs are wired for empathy in ways that many other species are not.

During the 60 Minutes story we heard a lot about oxytocin, commonly called “the love hormone.” This is a hormone, made in the brains of both dogs and people, that promotes the bonding between mothers and their babies, for example, and makes us feel good when we hug a loved one. Turns out when dogs make eye contact with their people or jump in their laps, both dogs and the recipients of their affection get more of an oxytocin rush.

But are dogs empathetic? Do they feel our emotional pain and joy? Several studies suggest they do. For example, in 2013, a group of Japanese researchers showed that the phenomenon of contagious yawning—long believed to be a sign of empathy—does not just happen among people. The scientists observed 25 dogs yawning in response to the yawns of both their owners and those of people they did not know. They measured the dogs’ heart rate to show that their yawning was not caused by stress (as many dog trainers believe it is).

Dogs may also be empathetic because in addition to sharing the love hormone with their humans, they share the stress hormone, called cortisol. Last fall, researchers in New Zealand took 75 dogs and 74 people and played the same sounds for both groups: a baby crying, a baby babbling and white noise. When they heard the crying baby, both people and dogs showed an increase in cortisol. The dogs’ behavior changed, too, as they became more submissive and alert. The researchers concluded that the dogs were showing “emotional contagion,” a basic form of empathy. What’s more, the empathy crossed species—a rare occurrence, they suggested.

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’ and bottom line, your dog is probably just as smart as Chaser, both intellectually and emotionally.  I know mine are! You just might need to do a bit of work to uncover that intelligence.  Age, breed and owner or trainer involvement are all factors.

A Quebec bill has changed animals from “property” to sentient beings and includes jail time for cruelty in Canada.  Let us hope that the United States and the rest of the world will not be far behind.  Especially with daily headlines like these: China, Korea, South East Asia: Stop Cooking Dogs, Any Animals, Alive;  Weasel of the Weak –> The Monster Who Tortured And Abused This Dog, Teen Who Killed Kitten Only Had to Serve One Year in Prison, Buried Alive Because She Was A Nuisance This Stray Dog Has Become An Inspiration and Copycat Dog Muzzle Duct Taping Crime?.  Even livestock who are ultimately slated to end up on our dinner tables deserve human treatment throughout their lives!

Hopefully, WE, human animals are finally realizing that all animals have value and deserve fair and better treatment, beginning with domesticated animals that we share our lives with. To whom much is given, much is expected! And because we are the most intelligent animals with the largest brain, at least on our planet, we must be much better than we are!

China, Korea, South East Asia: Stop Cooking Dogs, Any Animals, Alive

There is not justification for this… NONE! Not culture, not hunger, not anything!!

No animal should be cooked alive!

By Marion Algier – JOMP

Lisa Mason  -  Lima, OH

I love dogs. I hate any animal abuse. I just saw a picture of a dog being boiled alive. The fear and pain in his eyes was the worst thing I have ever seen. It made me cry and feel sick. I do not think dogs should be eaten, and they must not suffer such a slow painful death! I have been unable to get the picture of this poor dog out of my mind. I was told by the person who sent this picture they also saw a video. I have since googled Chinese and Koreans eating dogs and lots of pictures came up I did not look at. We must not buy  things for our dogs from any country that does these things to its own dogs, maybe that will make them change their practices. Also when they care so little for dogs do they make a safe product? I see many postings on recalls or products that should have recalls because dogs got ill or died from products made in China.

Letter to:  

Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in the United States Chinese Ambasador to the United States Mr. Zhang Yesui

South Korean Embassy South Korean Ambasador to the United States Choi Young-jin

Stop cooking dogs alive! I understand this is a different culture. And you may choose to eat things others would not, even our country has people that eat animals. But they must be treated humanely when raised and killed quickly. I would prefer a law banning eating dogs, but if this cannot be changed it MUST be illegal to skin or cook them alive. Our country of course does not make your laws, but we do import your products, and if people are aware of this issue, they can refuse to buy your products. It is my hope this petition will raise awareness that this occurs, and put economic pressure on your government to stop this. In a country where dogs are considered members of our families, how can we trust dog treats and other products made in a country with such disregard for canine suffering, to have enough quality control, that they are safe for us to spend our money on and give to our canine family members and friends, who help society in many ways by working with police, armed forces, handicapped, the ill, and dying? I will be sending a copy of this petition to companies that put theses products on our shelves.

See updates and comments HERE

Related:

Dog Meat in Chinese Restaurants

Voiceless Friends… Stop the Dog Meat Trade

Dogs slaughtered for meat in Vietnam… Stop the Dog Meat Trade

STOP KILLING DOGS! 2 million dogs killed in Horrible ways every Year in South Korea

Olympic Clean-up Chinese Style: Beijings Shocking Cat Death Camps

Dog found hanging from meat hook

Dog Meat In Beijing Ordered Off Menu For Olympics

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. -Mahatma Gandhi

When you look at our shelter system, we don’t do a very good job ourselves… but China (Asia)’s record is abhorrent!

‘Dogs Have The Intelligence of a Human Toddler’

Copycat Dog Muzzle Duct Taping Crime?

By Marion Algier – Just One More Pet

The original case, Caitlyn in South Carolina

Question for the Day…. Just how many losers and abusers are out there?

Examiner.com:  An adorable ten-week-old pit bull puppy is recovering in LaPlace, Louisiana after someone found him roaming along Manchester Lane in St. John the Baptist Parish late last week with his muzzle wrapped tightly with electrical tape, reports wdsu.com.

Vet Naturally

Now named Otis, the black and white pit bull mix, found by a good Samaritan, was taken to the parish area animal shelter who transferred the pup to VetNaturally where veterinarian Ashley Geoghegan attended to the little one’s medical needs free of charge.

Otis’ mouth had been tightly duct taped, and cloth had been wrapped tightly around his neck. Somehow the puppy was able to break away and was found wandering along the street. There are suspicions of this having been a copycat crime from the well publicized Charleston, South Carolina dog, Caitlyn, whose muzzle was also wrapped tightly with duct tape.

In addition, two of Otis’ toes were broken.

Dr. Geoghegan stated the owner of the puppy may have been "teaching the dog a lesson" type of punishment which of course is inhumane, or may have been priming Otis to be a bait dog for dog fighting activities.

Otis is expected to make a full recovery and is being fostered by Stephanie Pagliarulo, of Mandeville, who read about his plight on social media.

A $700 reward has being offered for the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for this act of animal cruelty. The St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

For those wishing to donate to the reward or inquire about adoptions, are asked to contact animalhelperneworleans@gmail.com.

Related:

Caitlyn the abused dog tied with electrical tape heading to foster home

New developments in abused dog, Caitlyn’s case and recovery

Most animal abusers get off far to light!!

Teen Who Killed Kitten Only Had to Serve One Year in Prison

Help Stop Abuse… Animals, Pets, Seniors, Child and Spousal, All Abuse

Teen Kills Kitten in Oven; Faces 10-Year Sentence

Police Dog Killer Gets Life Without Parole

Domestic and Animal Abuse

Father Arrested for Allegedly Killing Family Dog in Front of Children

Warning Signs That Your Child’s Behavior Is Dangerous To Pets

Manhatten Man Arrested For Beating Dog and Girlfriend

Alabama Dog Fighting Bust

Our Weasel Of The Week!! – 06-04-15

Speak for Me a poem written in protest of animal abuse

Calif. Vet Proposes Animal Abuser Database

Pet Abuse Registry Started in NY by Suffolk County SPCA… An Idea That is Waaaay Overdue and Needed Everywhere, So Let’s Do It!!

Our Weasel Of The Week!! – 06-04-15

Once again, It’s time to present this week’s statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week’s nominees were all disgusting but one of them stood out as an almost unanimous choice. The envelope please…. for Weasel Of The Week.

The Monster Who Tortured And Abused This Dog

Don Surber: The known-only-to-God-and-the-Devil expletive who did this. The bastard.

Ah, but he’s not only known to G-d and the devil anymore, but to the world.

This man (and I use the term loosely) is William Leonard Dodson, of Charleston, South Carolina’s northside Chicora Cherokee neighborhood and he’s in much better conditions than he left a helpless animal.

Caitlyn, a 15-month old Staffordshire Bull Terrier mix was left chained up with her muzzle taped tightly shut with electrical tape. That meant the dog was left in intense pain for what authorities estimate was 48 hours without being able to eat or drink, and her ability to cool herself was impaired.

The dog eventually broke free and was found on a neighbor’s porch, who turned her into the local animal shelter for treatment. Because her teeth were clamped down by the tape on to her tongue and the blood flow was cut off, a large part of it may have to be amputated, affecting her ability to drink or cool herself normally by panting for the rest of her life.

In fact, it was one of Dodson’s neighbors who turned him in:

Court documents allege Dodson purchased the dog, which was known as “Diamond” at the time, for $20 on May 25. A witness who said she sold him the dog told investigators Dodson approached the woman who sold him the dog and said he had taped the dog’s face with electrical tape because she would not stop barking. The witness said Dodson was laughing about the claim, court documents state.

Dodson also reportedly told the witness he had chained the dog in his front yard but that the dog had broken free and escaped, the affidavit states.

The dog was found the following day, Wednesday morning, on someone’s doorstep with electrical tape wrapped around her muzzle.

A medical report from Veterinary Emergency Care described the dog’s muzzle as “markedly swollen with evidence of tape around its muzzle,” and its tongue as “significantly swollen, significantly bruised, discolored (dark purple) and oozing blood,” court documents state.

After this story broke, donations for Caitlyn’s treatment poured in from as far away as Mexico, Ireland, Australia, Guatemala, England, Germany, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Canada, Belgium, Scotland, Indonesia, Estonia, the Philippines, Iceland, Hungary and Japan as well as from many people in the United States. If she heals, Caitlyn has a waiting list of fifty people who have applied to adopt her.

Dodson was was issued a $50,000 surety bond Tuesday by Magistrate Priscilla Baldwin and told he had to surrender a second dog he has at his residence. He’s been charged with felony animal cruelty, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years and/or a $5,000 fine.

As one Council member remarked, Dodson isn’t quite Weasel material being simply cruel and sadistic. That’s true, but while it’s stretching it a bit, there more than a bit of weasel in treating a dog like this and then giggling about how clever you are and how this was going to teach the dog a lesson. You see, one thing Weasels have in common..they’re largely amoral.And I’d be willing to bet better than even money that Dodson doesn’t even think what he did was wrong.

You see, Dodson is a career criminal, with extensive convictions for drug and weapons violations:

At the time of his arrest Monday, Dodson was on probation for a weapons conviction and out of jail on bail on a more recent drug and gun charge.

Dodson was convicted in May 2013 of possession of a firearm by a convicted violent felon, sentenced to six years and put on probation, according to a criminal background check with the State Law Enforcement Division.

Dodson was arrested again this March and charged with possession of cocaine and unlawful carrying of a weapon, according to SLED. He was released from the Charleston County jail on $110,000 bail.

I’m sure these are just the latest highlights in a long career.

There’s been a lot said about how ‘warehousing criminals’ is both expensive for society and morally wrong. So quite a few criminals simply get released early, or plea bargain to a shocking degree and get probation or sharply reduced penalties for lesser charges.

There is a fiscal argument there, but it falls apart when you consider the high cost, human and financial of repeat offenses, which are typically more egregious and deadly than prior ones.

The reason for that is because prison time is increasingly less of a deterrent these days, and not taken overly seriously by the William Leonard Dawsons of the world. Even the death penalty is hardly a deterrent these days when it consists of a painless drug cocktail administered after decades of appeals ad delays..if the death penalty is even applied at all.

No, I’m not advocating daily whipping or drawing and quartering murderers. But making prison a lot less pleasant and a lot more of a place to stay out of and bringing back the traditional methods of executions with limits on appeals might have an amazing effect of society and even encourage the William Leonard Dawsons to think twice.

Mr. Dawson isn’t here to get his Weasel, which is fine by me. I will see to it that it’s delivered to The Charleston Animal Society for him to pick up there. Being that it’s the South, a place where many traditional values hold forth, I have a feeling some of the members might take the opportunity to make their feelings known about this to Mr. Dawson in a personal way if he shows up to obtain it. At any rate, I would hope so.

No punishment would be to severe for Dodson, but unfortunately, he and most animal abusers get off far to light!! Teen Who Killed Kitten Only Had to Serve One Year in Prison  Help Stop Abuse… Animals, Pets, Seniors, Child and Spousal, All Abuse and most abusers cross the lines into several or all types of abuse.

Well, there it is! 

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week’s nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

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